'83 lude flooding

It's been oos for maybe a couple months, but was running decent last time...
Long story short, I managed to jump it wrong, blew 65A main fuselink, replaced -
no start.
Seems flooded, plugs look awful (black and wet), replace.
Spark seems OK, plug wires all <7K, dist cap/rotor look decent.
Time passes trying to start (I have running truck jumped to it for power).
Finally pull air filter and gas just poured out.
I now see that whenever I crank it, gas comes (drips, semi-fast) from the "Air
Suction Port" (IIRC - it's a California emissions car) on the back plate over
the carbs, more or less to lower center. I have the service manual, but don't
see what this is connecting to.
Any ideas on where to start? I really just want to get it running, for now, as
have to move soon, and not a whole lot of time to mess with it.
BTW, it passed emissions with flying colors about 6 mos ago.

TIA.

 

I had a similar experience with my 86 accord, raw gasoline even running out
the tailpipe. The only way to get that much fuel (unless the fuel line is
spraying) is for the carburetor bowl to be overflowing due to stuck float
or, as in my case, a leaking seal on the float valve. A couple of o-rings
fixed my problem. Don't know how similar an 83 prelude would be, but check
the float.



JP

 

Thanks. That's what I was afraid of. It's dual carb, and apparently four floats.
I was hoping maybe one of them was known for problems before I have to tear the
whole thing apart...

 

Easy to try, although I've had success only the first of the three times I
tried it:

Disable the fuel supply (like by blocking the fuel supply hose) and get the
engine to start and burn off what is in the float bowl. The float will drop
and when the gas is reconnected it will flush out any grit that may be stuck
in the float valve. Some old tricks are still alive

Mike

 

I seem to recall that the '83 Lude had three carburetors, two main ones and
a small one in the middle for the CVCC valves. I believe that this setup
was rather problematic and was eliminated on '84 and up carbureted Ludes.

A factory service manual from http://www.helminc.com sounds like it might be
a good investment.

Eric

 

Thanks Eric. I'll check my manual for that 3rd carb, which sounds like could be
the source of the fuel coming out of the "air suction port". Might also explain
the rather poor performance of the car under (attempted) accelleration. I'd
thought it was just naturally gutless, but looking at it now, I can see it
"should" go pretty good, like my old Z.

 

----- Original Message -----
From: Michael Pardee <>
Newsgroups: alt.autos.honda
Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 6:51 PM
Subject: Re: '83 lude flooding

Good idea! I'll try that tomorrow.

 

Well, at least that proved the car is basically OK, and the carb is flooding.
Disconnected the fuel line before the filter, plugged it with a screwdriver, and
got the car to start. Ran fine for about two minutes.
Reconnected the line, and it flooded again. But I can see gas coming from what I
think is the accelerator port, and another place on the air filter base that
seems to be connected to the right carb by a hose.
I actually did this maybe three times, hoping for a different result, but it
seems the same each time, almost like a float is full of gas (sunk). It runs
maybe a minute after the gas line is reconnected.

Do you or anyone know where there are better drawings/pictures of this thing? I
think I've checked the whole manual on fuel and emissions, but still don't see
the carb hose or whatever it is.

 

Yes, I think that's close. When I tried Mike's idea, there was gas coming from
what I think you're talking about (not the air suction port I mentioned before,
but what looks like some sort of air intake for a carb). And yes, it looks to me
it may have been on 83-84's, perhaps killed mid-model year of 84.

 

Yep - my guess is that your float is full of gas. It's not very unusual.

Mike

 

Guess I'll go see if they are to be had, then decide if I wanna fool with it.
I can get a rebuilt carb, but it's almost as much as the car is worth

 

Rebuild kits are pretty cheap and often include a float (but not always).
Putting a kit in is pretty easy if you remove the carb and follow the
directions. Don't turn adjustment screws and if you value your sanity don't
even think of opening the carb while it is mounted on the engine.

Mike

 

Right. I've done a couple of GM carbs from way back. But this thing scares me -
so damned many hoses, and fairly tight against the firewall. My back isn't what
it used to be, either.

I actually had considered trying to get at the float with it carb mounted, but
gave up on that idea. Thanks for the warning.

I do like the car, as does my daughter, who uses it when on leave (USN), so I
guess I have to give it a shot, even if I break it. Worse, that is. As in mo'
money.

Thanks again, Mike.